Chapter 5 - The House Went Dark
The darkness was immediate.
Absolute.
Emily heard Daniel curse.
Michael said,
“Nobody move.”
Emily clutched the edge of the desk.
Her heart hammered.
“Nathaniel?”
The phone connection was dead.
Michael activated his flashlight.
A narrow beam cut through the library.
The safe was open.
The red ledger was still inside.
“Take it,” Emily whispered.
Michael grabbed it.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Fast.
More than one person.
Daniel moved toward Emily.
“Stay behind the desk.”
Someone hit the library door.
Once.
Hard.
Emily jumped.
Another impact.
Michael reached inside his jacket.
Emily saw the outline of a handgun.
“Are you armed?”
“I’m licensed.”
The door shook again.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Emily’s breathing sounded too loud.
Michael whispered,
“They know we found it.”
“How?”
Daniel answered.
“Camera.”
Michael swept his flashlight around.
Nothing.
Then Emily saw a tiny red reflection near the bookshelf.
“There.”
Michael climbed onto a chair.
Hidden between two carved wooden panels was a miniature camera.
Emily stared.
Someone had been watching her father’s library.
Maybe for months.
Michael ripped the device free.
“Preston.”
Emily’s anger overwhelmed her fear.
“He put cameras in my father’s house.”
Footsteps moved away.
Then the lights returned.
Daniel checked the hallway.
Empty.
Emily immediately called security.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Michael looked at her.
“Preston changed the security company?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Of course he did.”
Emily opened the library door.
Michael tried to stop her.
“I’m done hiding.”
She walked downstairs.
The ballroom had changed.
Half the guests had left.
The remaining executives stood in small groups.
Preston was nowhere to be seen.
Neither was Vanessa.
Emily spotted the head of security.
“Mr. Lawson.”
He turned.
“Mrs. Vale.”
“Harrington.”
He hesitated.
“Mrs. Harrington.”
“Why did the power go out?”
“Electrical problem.”
“Why didn’t you answer your radio?”
His face tightened.
“Interference.”
Emily looked at him.
“You’re fired.”
His eyes widened.
“Excuse me?”
“This is my property.”
“You no longer work here.”
He glanced toward the hallway.
Emily saw it.
He was waiting for Preston.
“Leave.”
Lawson stepped closer.
“I take instructions from Mr. Vale.”
“Not anymore.”
Daniel appeared beside Emily.
“Mrs. Harrington is the legal owner.”
Lawson’s jaw tightened.
Then Michael descended the stairs carrying the red ledger.
Lawson saw it.
His expression changed.
He reached toward his jacket.
Michael immediately moved.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Several guests screamed.
Lawson froze.
Emily stared.
“What is in your jacket?”
“Phone.”
“Take it out.”
Slowly, Lawson removed his phone.
Michael took it.
The screen was unlocked.
A message was visible.
DID THEY FIND IT?
Sender:
P.
Emily felt sick.
Michael typed a response.
YES.
Three dots appeared immediately.
Then:
GET IT BEFORE SHE READS PAGE 47.
Emily stared.
“Page forty-seven.”
Michael opened the ledger.
He flipped through the pages.
Forty-three.
Forty-four.
Forty-five.
Forty-six.
Page forty-seven had been removed.
The paper was gone.
Daniel stared.
“No.”
Emily turned toward Lawson.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael stepped closer.
“Your employer apparently thinks you do.”
Lawson shook his head.
“I don’t know anything about a page.”
Emily believed one thing.
He was afraid.
Not of Michael.
Of Preston.
“Where is my husband?”
Lawson said nothing.
Emily stepped closer.
“Where is Preston?”
“He left.”
“With Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“During the blackout.”
Emily looked toward the front doors.
“Then he planned it.”
Daniel nodded.
Michael continued reading Preston’s messages.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
Michael looked at Emily.
“He sent Lawson another instruction ten minutes before the blackout.”
Emily took the phone.
The message read:
IF SHE FINDS THE LEDGER, MOVE THE GIRL.
Emily looked up.
“What girl?”
Lawson went pale.
Michael grabbed his arm.
“What girl?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily thought of Nathaniel.
His seven-year-old daughter.
Her niece.
She grabbed her phone and called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
Not from Nathaniel.
A photograph.
A little girl sat in the back seat of a vehicle.
Dark hair.
School uniform.
Terrified eyes.
Below the photograph were four words.
May you like
PAGE 47 FOR THE GIRL.
Emily’s blood went cold.
